Naim for a friend - unitilite or uniti 1

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Hi
my own naim addiction is still going on - currently buying n-Sats. Do not actually know, how install them - but time will tell :O)

But now I want to do a very good friend a favor and a big(ger) birthday present.
He is the one always coming for test hearing when I bought something new, but has not so much effort hearing at home.
He has a smaller ROTEL amp plus CD and BW stand speakers (do not know the exact model).

Thought a naim uniti will bring him to the next century :slight_smile:
Found a perfect unitilite (without DAB/Bluetooth) from 2013 and a very good uniti 1 from 2010 (192 kHz).
Both with the displays renewed.

What do you think? Will the newer lite do? (DAB and missing Bluetooth will be no problem for him).
Or better go for the more powerful Uniti?

Planning to look for a unitiserve in the future to complete it!

we would use it as CD player (or streaming serve or NAS in the future) and for radio most - bluetooth and streaming will not be of interest.

Thanks and
Regards

2

Lots of people think that until they buy a streamer and gradually realise how accessible music is, way beyond the limitations of a local collection.

3 Likes
3

Yo don’t know my best friend - using iPad for remote is a big step - kidding :slight_smile:
Will be a big step to bring him back to his local collection!

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any ideas or experience with the decision unitilite against uniti1
THX a lot

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I auditioned my Ariva speakers through a Naim NAC, NAP, Flatcap setup and, for something more akin to the NAD amp I had at the time, a Unitiqute. I replaced the NAD with a serviced and upgraded Uniti 1. The Uniti is closer to the sound of the separates than the Qute was. I think the Unitilite might sound more like the Qute. With everything the Uniti does - it has a great CD player, it can power a Stageline phono preamp, it does iRadio, uPNP, NAS, USB, Tidal and Spotify streaming etc - it is a bargain. Just look for a serviced and upgraded one.

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Hi, drago, I’ve no experience of the Unitilite, but I had a Uniti 1 for 12 years, and it had full control of CD player functions, but my new Uniti Star CD player only has Play, Stop, and eject functions, so p!ease ensure that if CD play control is required that the Unitilite has it.
I enjoyed my Uniti1, and only upgraded due to CD mechanism fault repairs and Covid.

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The Unitilite won’t have FM either. But then not will the Uniti 1.

I see the screens have been replaced, but have either of them been serviced? Assuming the Uniti 1 has been serviced, maybe when it had the 24/192 kHz board added, then I would probably go for that.

But I had both a UQ2 and Unitilite and the Unitilite is a whole load more musical than the UQ2 in my view. So don’t discount the UQ2 if you like it.

Having said that I went from Unitilite to SuperUniti and that is much better product all together and would drive more speakers better than either the Unitilite or the Uniti 1.

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8

I definitely think that unitilite has full CD control. There are both buttons on the unit itself and on the remote - will read the manual.

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Many Unitilites have had problems with the CD player. There are a couple of threads about the issue. Sorry to be a wet blanket…

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NO - it is fine. It is too nearby (can walk to the seller) but I do need to know, if all is fine!
Which kind of problems do they have?
I do not know if the lite has had more service than display. Will ask!

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Use the search function : “unitilite cd”. Lots of complaints about jammed drawers. This happened to a friend of mine.
The problem can be solved, but it’s a bit annoying.

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The CD player had been replaced at the uniti lite - seems replacement was done against a new CD-unit.
Found it - THANKS a lot.
Drawer not opening - that would be a bad present!

Maybe will look for uniti1 instead … never had problems with the manual opening mechanism of my CDX

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Ho hot do the units get?
I have to check how much air there is above the uniti.
If both do get as warm as HDX this might be a problem - but do not think so as HDX is a hot one because of his in build HDD.

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Coming nearer… the uniti1 is in a very good state.
But the air above the unit is limited in my friends sideboard - approx 4 fingers currently with the small rotel amps (do not know the model - and with the year searching in the net I had no luck).
My friend is currently in his holiday - so there is no short look possible.

Really like the uniti1 - love the manual CD tray!
How hot does the uniti get? Will this be a problem in a sideboard with 4 fingers air above?

Thanks

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Hard to say for sure as it will depend on the room temperature and the amount of air circulation around the unit. I suspect it will be fine.

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Switched (again) in mind … now the lite is at pole position. It has a new CD transport - done in end of 2020.
And as the transport of the uniti is afaik not exchanchable anymore (is this so?) - the uniti lite is the safer buy.

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Availability of replacement CD mechs has been erratic recently, and hard to predict, so a recently serviced player could be a wise move.

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18

David, unless I’m mistaken, the Uniti first generation did and does have an FM tuner.

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19

Yes it does - afaik

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Well I must admit that I thought the Uniti had an optional FM/DAB tuner like the Unitiqute and Unitilite did, but I see I was wrong about that. The Uniti had it as standard, like the SuperUniti that came a little later.

In any case, as it has FM, it will have DAB too.

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